This I Promise
by The Fallen Robin
Summary: Robin isn't always a cheerful kid full of banter and jokes, he's like all human beings, he's vulnerable. But that vulnerability seems to show itself around one person in particular. Behind each great man stand an equally great woman, and behind every caped vigilante boy is a caped vigilante girl. And these two are inseparable.
1. The Promise

"Hey circus freak! Show us your tricks!"

There it was. The ribbing. The verbal abuse of the bullies he dealt with daily. He pretended it didn't hurt, it was easier that way. Thankfully his dual identity both as Dick Grayson and Robin allowed him to separate it from his crime fighting.

But it was small consolation for Dick. He only knew a specific set of circus 'tricks' and they were acrobatics and trapeze. And he had sworn he would never have anything to do with the trapeze ever again, his parents were still too fresh in his mind despite the 7 months he had already spent as Robin. Suffice to say, he was getting little to no sleep between patrol, the nightmares and school.

"Go away."

A fist impacted with his shoulder. It hurt a lot, even for him. He stumbled back a bit then looked up at the towering bully. The kid's pitbull face was repulsive with sadism.

"What you say to me circus freak?!"

A fire ignited behind Dick's eyes. Anger started to bubble up and he snapped.

"I said go away. You think you're so big, so tough, picking on me 'cause I'm small? Newsflash; you're not. Just because you can beat on other kids doesn't make you any more important. You just think it does, you do it for the kicks, the feeling of dominance."

The bully's fist hit his cheek this time. And again. Again and again and again. Blood began to drip from his lips. Dick didn't cry out, he didn't say anything, he just kept getting up and taking it. And the fire in his eyes just got brighter. It burned so fiercely, scaring the bully, daring him to keep going.

A redhead girl was watching from the crowd in disbelief. This was Barbara Gordon, the only daughter of Jim Gordon, the police commissioner of GCPD. And her disbelief was due to the sight she was witnessing. The new boy, a small boy was standing up to the biggest bully in the school, just taking the hits and standing.

Finally the bully stopped. Dick was still standing, his eyes now hauntingly fierce. He stayed still but spoke clearly, so everyone could hear.

"Not so easy when your target can take a beating is it? And guess what. It's even harder when they fight back."

And he walked painfully away.

Barbara ran to catch up to him. "Excuse me."

The small boy turned around and looked her up and down analytically. He looked guarded, withdrawn. Cautiously, he answered.

"Yes?"

She stumbled over the words a bit.

"You're uh… gonna need some help cleaning yourself up." He looked her in the eye honestly.

"Are you offering?"

"Yeah." Barbara blurted out before her brain could catch up with her mouth. "I… I mean, if you want me to."

' _Way to put your foot in your mouth Barbara, you've done it again._ ' She cursed mentally. But the boy just looked thankful.

"If it's not too much trouble."

Calming herself down, Barbara sat the black haired boy down on the bench round the back of the playground where no one went. Taking a tissue from the packet in her bag, she carefully wiped away the blood as not to make it worse. It took a while to clean him up, but she managed to make him look presentable again. In fact, the few differences between now and earlier were his cut lip, roughed up face and his now chaotic hair which contrasted its previous slicked back state.

Speaking of his hair. It was partially gelled back now, the front hanging free. To remedy the controversial look, Barbara ruffled his hair until it was free of the gel's hold, then combed it with her fingers so it looked quite good in her opinion. His new appearance, despite the signs of the beating, was actually a fairly good look in him in her opinion.

"There you go…" Barbara struggled for his name but realised after a moment that he hadn't given it to her. "Sorry, I think I missed your name."

"I'm Dick Grayson." Dick replied with a smile due to her kindness.

"Dick, is that short for Richard?" She asked and he nodded in reply. "Nice to know. I'm Barbara by the way, Barbara Gordon."

"Thanks for helping me out Barbara."

"You're welcome Dick." She smiled back at him. She could tell he wasn't used to talking to kids his age, or kids in general. It was the way he carried himself, shy, reserved. Like he'd never really talked to them. She guessed that was because he'd grown up in a circus full of adults.

"Tell you what, why don't you come with me to meet my friends?"

He suddenly looked in guard again. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't be." She insisted. "Come on."

He ended up letting her take him by the hand and over to her friends. They were quite nice to him, and they didn't care about what the bullies said. There was Bette, Millie, Janine and Ariana. They made him feel welcome into their circle, and when it came time for classes Barbara gave him the seat next to her.

She helped him with his work but didn't give him the answers either. Come the end of the day, Dick was positively beaming when his new friends said they'd see him tomorrow. Each one of them waved goodbye to him as they left with their parents. Alfred pulled up in one of the many cars belonging to Bruce and he got in, waving goodbye to Barbara who gave him a kind smile before he got in and closed the door.

"Dear lord Master Dick, what happened today?"

The boy shrugged, still high on the prospect of his new friends. "Nothing much Alfred, just a bully decided to beat on me and a nice girl called Barbara cleaned me up and introduced me to my new friends."

A smile graced the butler's face.

"Sounds like quite an adventure Master Dick. I'm sure Master Bruce will be delighted to hear that you are making friends at school."

' _But I fear he will not take well to the beating you received._ ' Alfred silently added, pulling the car out into the road and heading for Wayne Manor.

-T.I.P-

Dick and Barbara were waiting for their lifts when out of the blue, she asked, "Hey Dick, wanna come to a sleepover with me, Bette and the others?"

He looked happy and sheepish at the same time. "If you're sure it won't be any trouble, then yeah, thanks."

Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, she smiled and ruffled his hair as she always did. "You're never any trouble Dick, we all love having you around."

His wide eyes made her smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah, no trouble at all." She smiled even wider. "Come on Dick, grow a little self esteem. You're a great guy, and we all love you for it."

"Uh… thanks. Let me just call Alfred so that he can get my stuff and Bruce knows."

So he called Alfred. Fortunately, the butler had been held up by a call from his family and was still at the manor, so grabbing his sleepwear and casual clothes was easy enough. The butler quickly turned up with the requested items and promised to tell Bruce about the film night. No patrol for him tonight, just friends.

The commissioner turned up a bit late too, work having kept him. Due to the number of people, Alfred lent a hand, driving Dick Millie and Ariana to the Gordon's house with their stuff. Once there, the butler helped bring the bags into the house and then left with, "I shall pick you up tomorrow morning Master Dick."

"Thanks Alfred." Dick replied.

Commissioner Gordon left shortly after, going back to his duty as a cop. Everyone chamged into their sleepwear and sat in front of the TV chatting whilst they watched.

"Dick, is that guy your bodyguard or something?" Bette asked.

Dick looked up and said, "No, he's the family butler."

"Family butler? Just who do you live with?" Janine commented. No one expected his response.

"Bruce Wayne."

All the jaws dropped.

"For real?" Millie inquired once she got her voice back. Dick nodded. "What's he like?"

"Kind, understanding and just… warm, even though his relationship status is constantly on the fritz." Dick looked so happy when he spoke about his guardian.

"Honestly, I'm just lucky he took me in."

"He sounds great." Janine sighed dreamily. Dick, being unfamiliar with people his age, wasn't aware of how a 'crush' worked and just nodded. Barbara giggled at his obliviousness quietly and after a few minutes of conversation, suggested they play a game.

"Hey, let's play Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare."

Everyone agree but Dick who asked, "What's that?"

"What?! You've never played Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare?!" Bette looked and sounded scandalised. Dick just looked embarrassed.

"I grew up in the circus, the daily routine was wake up, practise, eat, practise, an hour or two spare time, eat, take care of the equipment and animals, eat, practise or a performance, bed."

"That's that, we're playing Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare! It's a rite of passage!" Bette declared. And so the game began.

They spent a few minutes explaining the game to Dick. Spin the Bottle Truth or Dare was a common variant of the basic Spin the Bottle game, combining the rules of the game with those of Truth or Dare, the classic pranking, secret-telling game played at sleepovers all over the world. To play spin the bottle with Truth or Dare rules, begin as you normally would by having someone spin the bottle in the center of your circle. When the bottle lands on someone, the spinner asks him or her 'Truth or Dare?' and if the person answered Truth, the spinner got to ask a question. If he or she answered Dare, they had to perform the dare that the spinner chose.

Since it was Barbara's house, she spun the bottle first. It landed on Ariana.

"Ari, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

Barbara struck a thinking pose for a moment before asking, "What's the best holiday you've had?"

"Barcelona with my cousins."

Ariana spun the bottle and it landed on Dick. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." He responded calmly. Barbara had noticed he was getting more confident by the day.

"I dare you to call Bruce Wayne and sing 'I'm a Barbie Girl'."

Dick put on his serious face. "That depends…"

"On what?"

"Does anyone here have a loudspeaker and 'Barbie Girl' on their phone?" Dick smirked and some of their mouths dropped wide open.

Turned out Bette had quite the collection of music. And Millie had brought her speaker. The girls got the song up to the right point and got ready. Dick went to his phone settings and turned off his caller ID so Bruce wouldn't know it was him. Then he called. Bruce picked up.

-T.I.P-

"Bruce Wayne."

Bruce, sitting in the Batcave, in full Batman attire, was surprised when he got a call from a withheld number. Alfred walked in as his jaw dropped. Because he, The Goddamn Batman, was not expecting this.

" _I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!_

 _I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation_

 _I'm a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world  
Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly  
You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamour in pink,  
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky…_

 _You can touch, you can play, if you say, 'I'm always yours.'_

 _I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation_

 _Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!_

 _Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please  
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees  
Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again,  
Hit the town, fool around, let's go party  
You can touch, you can play, if you say, 'I'm always yours.'  
You can touch, you can play, if you say, 'I'm always yours.'_

 _Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
(ah-ah-ah-yeah)  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
(uu-oooh-u) [2x]  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!_

 _I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation_

 _I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation_

 _Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!  
Come on, Barbie, let's go party!_"

His phone hit the cave floor with a clatter. It had fallen from his hand. He heard the distinct sound of girls giggling in the background as the music was shut off and the call ended. There was a chuckle. He turned around slowly.

Alfred was laughing so hard that he was at risk of dropping the platter he was carrying!

And it was at this moment The Batman knew… he'd been prank called!

-T.I.P-

The bedroom was filled with laughter as all six of them cried with mirth at Dick's prank call.

"T-that was t-too funny!" Barbara giggled, hands over her mouth. Dick was writhing on the floor with amusement and laughter.

"His reaction though! Did you hear the phone hit the floor?!"

"Yup!"

After a good lot more laughing, everyone calmed down enough to continue with the game. Dick span the bottle and it landed on Bette.

"Truth or Dare?"

-T.I.P-

Robin leapt into action as he saw Batgirl at it again. The girl had appeared a month or two ago and, while she sported some decent self-defence skills and had great gymnastics, she was just needlessly endangering her life in Batman's opinion. Robin wasn't so sure. He'd never spoken to her. Yet.

One of his circular throwing disks hit a gun aimed at her back, slicing open the hand holding it and making the mugger recoil, shooting into the air instead of at the female vigilante. She whipped around, surprised that he was there. Her spacial awareness wasn't on his or Batman's level.

More of his throwing disks found themselves tripping some more or the thugs that were outnumbering Batgirl.

' _Time to rescue a potential ally._ ' Robin thought, firing his Batclaw, grappling to a pipe as he threw a few smoke bombs with the other hand. They exploded into clouds of smoke around Batgirl and he pulled a 'Batman', dropping down on the cable and grabbing her around the waist, going back up without actually touching the ground. He dropped her off up on the rooftop above and flashed her his trademark Robin smirk.

"You may want to note some areas for improvement Batgirl. Class is in session and I will be the demonstration for tonight."

Before she responded, he went back down on the Batclaw. He socked a still blinded mugger in the face and pulled him up, tying him to the pipe with a cord and delivering a swift kick to the head to knock him out.

He let out his signature. The 'bat-ninja-cackle' as the witnesses of his nighttime activities called it. The muggers panicked.

"Oh crap, it's Robin!"

He dropped from his perch, driving his feet into the back of one's head. Gravity did the rest. One down, three to go. As silently as he had disappeared into the shadows, he emerged from them, grabbing the fire escape with his hands. His legs locked around the criminal's neck and he used the momentum of the swing to smash the mugger's skull into the wall. As the other two turned, he snuck behind them and, holding his breath, gassed one with knockout gas. Last one.

He did a sideways flip to disarm the man of his gun, kicking it away too. The man drew a knife. It was an Italian Stiletto Switchblade. The adrenalin pumping through his veins spurred him on. The mugger lunged with the knife, fast.

Robin raised his left arm and let it pass by his side, locking his arm around the mugger's. His legs wrapped around the criminal's neck in a chokehold and he floored the man. He sharply wrenched the guy's we beyond what was natural and he dropped the knife in pain. Robin maintained the chokehold until the robber fell unconscious. It took about a minute. He released the man and set about thing them all up fast. By hanging them like the first. He looked at the guy getting mugged.

"Call the cops."

And with that, he used his Batclaw to grapple up to where Batgirl had been watching from. "Lesson concluded. Any questions?"

"Nope." Batgirl responded, pointedly.

Suddenly Robin felt lightheaded. He dropped to the roof, blackness claiming him.

Batgirl, AKA Barbara Gordon, was instantly worried and rolled the younger half of the dynamic duo over. To find a knife cut along his left side. He'd been cut! And it was fairly deep. With great hurry, she quickly took off his cape and tied it around his torso, tight to keep pressure on the wound. Finding his grapple gun on the back of his utility belt, she lifted him and grappled away, learning to use it and hold onto him as she went. Making her way back to her home, she pulled him in through her window and laid him on the floor.

She untied his cape and spread it under him to make sure no blood got on the floor while she helped him. She pulled back her cowl and got to it.

Searching through his belt, she found an emergency medical kit. It would have to be enough. She carefully removed the upper part of his suit and found the wound beneath all the blood by mopping up the red substance with a cloth she found in one of her draws. It didn't look as deep as it could be. Cleaning the cut, she decided to try her luck at stitching it up with the kit he had.

Taking off her gloves, Barbara took up the needle and threaded the stitching into it. It would be unpleasant, but she was Batgirl dammit! She could take it. Thankfully Robin was out of it. Starting at one end of the cut, she put the needle through the two sides of his skin and started sewing them back together. It wasn't any harder than making her Batgirl costume she told herself. She was halfway done when it started to get to her. But she pressed on. In, out, repeat. Just as she was about to toss her cookies, she finished.

Ending the stitches, which weren't the best by any means, but she hoped would be sufficient, she cut the thread and cleaned the cut one more time before covering it with a patch and taping it to Robin's bare and no longer bloody torso. Pulling him up gently, she managed to get him onto her bed and left him there while she went to clean up.

As she was washing out his cape and top in the sink, it hit Barbara like a bullet tram.

How would she explain this to her dad?!

Finishing with the washing, she washed out the sink so it wasn't full of red stained water and threw the clothes into the dryer for a quick spin to dry them out, which it seemed would be all it would take given their density and weight.

Going back into her room, she changed out of her Batgirl costume and stowed it away so her father wouldn't find it. Back in her civvies, she looked at the Boy Wonder, unconscious on her bed. She knew she shouldn't but she really just had to know who was under the mask, if only to explain to her father. Reaching for the domino mask, she peeled it away to reveal the face of…

… Dick Grayson…

Wait what? Dick was Robin? Well it did kind of make sense, he did come from the circus, he had acrobatics training and it wouldn't be too hard for Batman to build on that. Batman! He had to be Bruce Wayne right? He _did_ take Dick in.

Deciding to put the matter aside for the present moment, Barbara went over to her closet and started searching. Within a few minutes, she found the pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt he'd left behind by accident during their last sleepover. Taking the clothes, she put them on the unconscious Boy Wonder and hid his suit with hers, going back to the kitchen to collect his top and cape.

Switching on the lights of the rooms she'd been in, she carefully inspected the house for any sign of blood. There was none. She turned off the unnecessary lights and started to think of a cover story to tell her dad. A good thing she did. About half an hour later, Jim Gordon came home and inquired,

"What's Dick doing here Barb?"

With a believable demeanour, Barbara went into her story. "Oh sorry Dad, I was going to call you to say Dick was coming round to help me with my homework but I forgot to charge my phone so I couldn't. It really helped having him here. He fell asleep about an hour ago 'cause he had trouble sleeping the last couple of days."

The Commissioner's face softened and he smiled. "It's fine honey, just make sure to charge your phone tonight and we'll take Dick home in the morning. I'll just call Bruce to tell him he's here."

He hugged his redhead daughter and chuckled. "I swear that guy worries so much about Dick, he might go grey before I do."

The pair parted and went back to their nightly routines. Barbara changed again, this time into her pyjamas, and got into her bed alongside the injured boy. She tucked the sheets over them and held him close, making sure to be on his right side.

"Please make it through the night Dick."

She didn't want to lose him.

-T.I.P-

Barbara woke up as she felt a shift from Dick. Blinking, she sat up and saw the Boy Wonder's feature contorted in pain in his sleep. As her hand touched his skin, he woke up, hissing in pain.

" _Dick, calm down! Lie down, you're safe._ " She whispered, turning his head to look at her. His eyes widened in recognition.

" _Barbara?_ " She nodded. " _What, where am I?_ "

Gently trying and failing to push him back down, she replied.

" _My place. I took you here after you got injured and passed out. I did my best to patch you up._ "

" _You're Batgirl?_ "

She nodded again. " _Surprise._ "

He looked as if he would have responded, if he hadn't just leant his head against her chest. His breathing was steady, paced. He was asleep again.

-T.I.P-

Dick did his best to hide the pain he was in as he got out of Commissioner Gordon's car. Alfred was holding the door open and Bruce was looking worried. They shared glances.

Dick glanced at his side and, given the policeman couldn't see him, let his pain show for a moment. Bruce gave the barest of nods. Carefully but casually, Bruce let Dick hug him and closed his arms around the boy's head. "Don't worry me like that okay?"

"Sorry." Dick's voice was muffled. "I'll take my phone next time I'm going to Barbara's after school."

He turned back to the Gordons. Barbara stepped up and hugged him carefully like Bruce did, her arms over his shoulders. She was a bit taller than him.

" _I'll give your suit back at school._ " She whispered. He turned his face into her neck.

" _Keep the 'Claw._ "

A moment later.

" _Don't ever leave me._ "

" _I'll always be with you._ " She whispered softly.

" _This I promise._ "


	2. Teenage Rebellion

Mister Freeze was advancing towards a family when a cackle rang out. The ice villain looked around, vaguely remembering it. 3 explosive bladed disks hit the ground at his feet and blew up. A shadow fell over him, in the shape of a bat. He turned around to take two combat boot clad feet to his glass helmet, knocking him right into a sweep kick that toppled him. He looked up at his attackers.

It was Batgirl and Robin, but not as he remembered them.

Batgirl's outfit had changed from her initial one, which had been made from her gymnastics kit and other stuff. This one was properly made, but kept the custom look. It was a fitting darkish purple jacket with a golden yellow bat symbol on the chest and zip up sleeves, pants if the same colour, knee tall combat purple boots, golden yellow gloves and a utility belt like Robin's but with a strap on her right leg to secure it and it was more like actual pouches than compartments. Her cape was black on the outside, golden yellow on the inside and attached to her shoulders by golden yellow studs and her black cowl, this one with actual eyes holes instead of the old white material lenses. The cape had the tailored ends so it could serve as a wingsuit like Batman's. All but the cape and cowl were made of a flexible Kevlar weave, the cowl being reinforced and the cape being the regularly-flexible-until-an-electric-current-is-applied material.

Robin's suit had changed too. His new uniform was comprised of a red vest, black leggings, boots and gloves, all of which seemed to be made of a kevlar weave body armor, that still allowed him great mobility. On his chest, a stylized "R" symbol was visible, and around his waist he wore a gold colored utility belt with various pouches for his equipment. He donned a cape that was black on the outer lining but pale yellow on the inside. To protect his identity, Robin wore a black stylized domino mask like his old one.

"Oh, Robin and Batgirl. I'm underwhelmed. Here to take me on?"

"Great, so I owe Batman 5 bucks." Robin grumbled. "He called it."

"Eh, don't you have somewhere to be in like half an hour Robin?" Batgirl commented as they proceeded to ignore Freeze in favour of chatting. The boy nodded.

"Mmhmm."

As Freeze raised his ice cannon, the pair broke into action, hurling a volley of explosive blades at the frigid villain, blasting his helmet open and incapacitating him.

"Now was that so hard?"

"Time consuming." Robin replied as Batman walked up to them. "Could Freeze have waited like, a day? I'm on edge as it is."

Leaving Freeze as the police arrived, they made their way back to the Batcave, where Alfred had the Zeta Tube hot and ready to go. Batman gave Robin a look.

 _Tell her goodbye for now._

Dick pulled off his mask and Barbara her cowl when they recognised the look. Batman headed through the teleporter.

"Sorry, gotta go."

Barbara just smiled. "Go on, I'll be here where you get back. You are coming back without getting hurt or into trouble, got it?"

"You know, between Bruce, Alfred and you, I wonder who tells me that the most." Dick joked nervously.

"Cheeky." Barbara kissed him on the cheek, put his mask on him and pushed him towards the teleporter. As he walked into it, she went to go change into casual clothes and rejoin the world as Barbara Gordon.

-T.I.P-

Robin held in a shiver as he looked up at the Hall of Justice, the public headquarters of the Justice League. It was tall and grandiose, heavy on the grand.

He was faintly aware of the others arriving. Green Arrow came with Speedy, who he knew to be Oliver Queen and Roy Harper respectively, Aquaman and Aqualad, who were King Orin of Atlantis and Kaldur'ahm, and the Flash and Kid Flash, being Barry Allen and Wally West. Kid Flash made a comment about being the last pair there but Robin didn't hear it. He was too busy feeling nervous, despite his earlier excitement.

He was brought back to full awareness when he felt a hand on his shoulder, one he knew well. Batman's hand. The Dark Knight looked him in the eyes and they communicated without words.

 _You alright?_

 _Nervous. I wish Barbara was here._

 _You'll see her at the mansion tonight, and you have your phone on you. You can text her. Chin up._

 _Okay._

"Let's go."

Batman lead the way. They walked past the crowds of paparazzi who yelled questions at them and made blindingl _y_ obvious observations, incorrect at times. Robin schooled his face into a smile for the crowd when he spotted a small boy wearing a shirt with his emblem on it. Stopping for a moment, he took out a spare eye mask and put it securely on the boy's face. He ruffled the kid's hair and, as he got up, said,

"Nice shirt."

He caught up to Batman to hear one of the other protégés say something about being overwhelmed.

"Freeze was underwhelmed, you're overwhelmed, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" He sighed. As Dick Grayson and Robin, he loved taking apart words and applying them to a context. 'Whelmed' was one of his favourites, along with 'aster' which was taken from 'disaster'. It was fun, given he could speak several languages, English not even being his first language. It was actually Romani but he grew up speaking both Romani and English so he was equally fluent, and could switch accents easily.

As they entered the hall, he looked up at the statues of the original members of the Justice League.

"Okay maybe that's why."s

Secretly, he was overwhelmed on all levels by the prospect and now reality of entering the headquarters of the Justice League. He tapped Batman on the arm and the Dark Knight leaned down.

" _They should really have chosen a darker rock to make your statue, or coloured it, it's not really screaming 'I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman!'._ "

Batman whispered back.

" _Well when you become head architect of the Hall, you can decide on the décor._ "

Sarcasm. Bruce was in a good mood today.

Batman continued leading them through the Hall, until they reached a comfortable looking lounge area. Robin's nerves were full rage again. He needed to shut everything out. Roy gestured to the paparazzi behind the huge window on one side, clearly angry. But he didn't hear it. He was looking at Batman. His father figure spoke to him through eye contact again.

 _Do what you need to to calm down, shut out the press if you feel like you need it._

 _Thank you._

Bringing up his wrist computer as the red archer and now former partner of Green Arrow stormed out, he accessed the window functions and activated the blackout, turning the windows black and opaque. Now the paparazzi couldn't make his nerves worse. Just before Batman entered the League-only room, he told Dick one last thing.

 _Talk to her, I'll be back as soon as I can._

Almost fumbling for it, Dick pressed the hidden button that changed the design of his phone case and took it out. Now instead of being a black water pattern, it was blank red, the same colour as his top.

As he sat in the armchair, tense, he typed in his password. _RED BIRD_. It was a reference to his name, Robin. He thumbed his way through his conversations and reached the one he wanted. Wally and Aqualad were still feeling let down that their mentors 'didn't trust' them. He was used to Batman telling him to stay put, he understood why he did. It was to protect him from what he wasn't ready for. He typed his text and sent it.

 _Hey B_

A moment later, a reply came from Barbara.

 _U Ok?_

He smiled faintly and replied.

 _Nerves killing me, not really whelmed_

Almost instantly after he sent it, her next message popped up.

 _Poor u, big man busy?_

Barbara read his mind sometimes, he swore. She'd been his best friend ever since he met her and two and a half months ago, he'd finally fessed up his real feelings for her and they started dating.

 _You know how it is, work just comes up out of nowhere_

He imagined she was probably in her room at the mansion, lying on her bed. Due to the fact he wasn't home enough, her father Commissioner Gordon had arranged for her to live with him and Bruce up at Wayne Manor two years ago. As a bonus, it allowed her to train under Bruce and him much easier as Batgirl.

 _You know he can't help it_

True to the 'T'.

 _Ye, wish you were here with me_

"Robin, are you seriously just gonna sit here on your phone after they just brushed us off like that?!" Kid Flash finally had turned to him. Dammit. Looking up, he answered the speedster.

"That how it is Kid, they're superheroes, the protectors of Earth. Life doesn't cut them any more or less slack because of what they do, it's just part of the life. Batman has done the same thing to me time and time again, and I understand."

The ginger scoffed. "Yeah right. Who are you texting that is so much more important than the fact they broke such a big promise?"

"No one you need to know Kid." He replied, looking back at the screen, specifically the newest message.

 _I wish I was too, love you xxx_

Wally sped over, trying to look at the screen which Robin turned away from him. Much to his annoyance, KF stole his phone and looked at the last two messages then the name at the top of the screen.

"'Wish you were here with me'? 'Love you xxx'? Who's 'B Girl'? Your girlfriend?"

'B Girl' was one of his nicknames for Barbara, so he'd changed her contact name to it. Thankfully, it was vague to anyone who wasn't intimately familiar with how he talked, and could be confused as 'Baby Girl'. It actually meant Batgirl and Baby Girl at the same time.

Grabbing Wally's wrist and twisting it, Dick caught his phone and locked it, shoving it in his pocket with a scowl. "Keep your nose out of my personal life!"

"Kid, that was a serious invasion of Robin's privacy, please apologise and refrain from such actions in the future." Kaldur reprimanded the speedster. At least someone was polite.

"Okay, sorry Rob."

"Don't do it again, there's a reason I have a password on my phone."

-T.I.P-

"Remind me how I let you talk me into this KF?" Robin groaned as they approached C.A.D.M.U.S Labs.

"You know you really wanna!"

"If we get in trouble, I'm telling Batman you nagged me until I couldn't put up with it any more." He retorted, seeing the fire.

Kid Flash ran up the side of the building and put the falling scientists on the roof, not quite making it up there himself. He caught the ledge on the second and top floor and hung there. Robin sighed, taking out his Batclaw, grappling to the top of the fire truck's ladder and swung himself into the window KF was hanging from, pulling him inside. Aqualad activated his Water Bearers and used water from the trucks to bring down the two scientists on the roof in with a water vortex. He joined the other two inside.

Kid Flash saw a strange figure and they ended up chasing it to an elevator. Aqualad forced open the doors and they looked down into the shaft. Aiming his Batclaw at the top of the elevator, Robin muttered,

"Here goes craziness, emphasis on the craz."

The hook anchored into the top and he leapt into the elevator shaft, using it to rappel down. He ran out of line at floor 26 so had to swing to the ledge. Sitting down, he activated his wrist computer and started hacking the doors. He got them open a few moments after Aqualad landed. Leaving his Batclaw hang for when they would likely need a way out, they advanced into the corridors.

"So what d'ya reckon they're hiding down here?" Kid asked.

"Horrible, giant beasts." Robin replied sarcastically.

A few minutes later they encountered just that. Huge, elephant creatures were tromping through the halls, with little gremlin things on them. They had horns that glowed red. Once they passed, the Boy Wonder rolled his eyes.

"I was not being 'castic when I said we'd see horrible giant beasts." The deadpan was real.

Eventually they reached flesh-like tunnels that lead to, guess what, a pod. A goddamn, human sized pod. And 3 guesses what was in the pod. A boy. A boy who was wearing a white skin tight suit with Superman's symbol on, the coat of arms for the House of El on Krypton. And Aqualad said something that made a hundred times more sense than anything Kid Flash had all day.

"We must release him."

Robin approached the console and set about opening the pod. "I get the feeling this won't go so well."

The boy opened his eyes. Kid Flash waved.

"Hey there."

In a blur of white, he was sent flying into a wall. Damn that was one hell of a punch.

"You had that one coming KF."

Aqualad tried to reason with him. "We are here to help you. Do not make this dissolve into violence."

Bam. The Atlantean went flying into a wall like the speedster. Wow, this guy did not like talking. Looked like he was the punch first type.

"You're thinking of hitting me too, aren't you?" He asked the Super… teen? "You know, if you hit everyone you see, you're gonna end up with no friends and you really don't want that, believe me."

Robin jumped high. The wall where he had been standing a moment ago had a small crater now. He stopped, dropped and rolled, going through the boy's legs as he went to try to punch him again. The operative word being 'try'.

"Have you considered a help group? They are really helpful. Gets you through the teenage identity crisis stage, take it from me, I've been to one."

The kid had taken enough of Robin's nervous banter. With another sudden burst of speed, he clotheslined Robin and punched him into a wall. He was out like a light.

-T.I.P-

' _Richard John Grayson, wake up this instant!_ '

Barbara voice in his head shook him out of his unconsciousness. And crap. He was in a pod, different to the Super teen's. And speak of the devil, or guy. He'd never grasped that particular phrase.

"Hey there roomie. How's life for you right no… wait, who are you?" He inquired.

Almost mechanically, the white suited teenager responded.

"I am the Superboy, cloned from the DNA of the Superman, created to take his place should he fall, to strike him down should he stray from the light."

Robin considered this.

"Okay, nice to meet you Superboy. Hey, you know when I can check out? I'm kind of expected back home."

"Thanks. No I don't."

"Ah, shame. You know something, I like you Superboy. You seem like an all round great guy, but you could try thinking for yourself for a change."

Then Wally and Kaldur woke up. And as per usual, the speedster started yammering.

Then the creepy scientist walked into. With a gremlin on his shoulder. Little horned devils. Robin just wanted to break their little heads off with a Batarang. A very sharp Batarang. Preferably one of his acid ones the he had 'borrowed' from Batman. A little demented? Yeah, it was the good ol' Gotham in him. No one tangled with the likes of Penguin, Riddler, Two Face, Firefly, Harley Quinn and Joker multiple times without being at least slightly demented.

"I'm afraid you won't be leaving at all."

"Dammit, I've already missed dinner, I ain't missing hot chocolate and Batcookies too!"

The torture tools appeared inside the pods.

"Extract their DNA and being cloning them, then delete of the source material."

Robin glared at the scientist, Desmond something or other. And said the truest words all day.

"I hate you."

Then the needle plunged into his skin, taking his blood. A fair bit of his blood. Not just a smidge, like, two pints. Yeah. The shock would set in soon. Time to bail his ass out of here. Aqualad tried speaking to Superboy to convince him as he walked away, taking advantage of his super hearing.

It seemed to work, because a moment later, the clone was punching down the door. At the moment when Superboy smashed in the door, Robin opened his restraints with the dart he had in his hand. Booting open the pod, he leapt out and hurled the dart into the neck of the nearest scientist. It was a sedative dart. A nasty one. It could knock out an elephant. Scratch that, two elephants.

' _Batgirl is so gonna have my hide for this!_ '

He took out 2 Batarangs and hurled them both with the same hand. They hit the nearest gremlin things, apparently called Genomorphs. One landed on his shoulder and its horns glowed red. A telepathic presence tried to enter his mind but he put Batman's influence to the forefront and began reciting computer code as he hurled it into a scientist.

'I _am_ so _on the couch for worrying her so much!_ '

Superboy joined him in driving back the scientists and Genomorphs. With their temporary reprieve, he spoke to the clone.

"Hey Superboy, would you mind releasing Aqualad? I'll get Kid Idiot over there."

Superboy frown at being asked to do something but nodded. He went over and punched and tore Aqualad out his pod. For Robin, he used another Batarang to hit the button in the console to release the speedster. 3 explosive disks destroyed the pods. Then they legged it back to the elevator. Superboy jumped up the shaft, in an attempt to fly. Operative word: attempt. After a large leap, he started to fall back to gravity's whims. He landed on a piece of framework, muttering,

"Superman can fly, so why why can't I?"

"Hey, apparently it took Superman a while to learn to fly, don't let it bother you." Robin replied, leaping from one ledge to the next with his acrobatics. They were getting back to sublevel 26, 'cause they had been on 50 something. After a while, Robin was greeted by his Batclaw, still there. He leapt up and seized the handle, hooking it through the built-in reel mechanism in his belt. He held out his hands.

"Grab hold."

Aqualad took one hand, KF the other and Superboy opted to continue leaping. Due to the fact Aqualad had the reach, he hit the reel button on the Batclaw. They went slowly and crankily sublevel 6 it stopped.

"It can't take all of us up any higher. This is our stop." They disembarked. Robin ended up having to get Superboy to wrench his Batclaw grappling hook free. Damn, now Barman would be in his case for breaking his gear as well as disobeying orders.

Superboy, acting on a voice in his head, led them down the corridors until they ran into a humanoid version of the Genomorphs who mind blasted them. He spoke to Superboy for a bit mentally until the teen said,

"I choose freedom."

And the Genomorph guy let them walk, but as always, the crazy scientist showed up. He spouted something about how a 'Project Blockbuster' would help him regain control of C.A.D.M.U.S and drank a vial of stuff that changed him into a hulking, hairy monster who Superboy engaged. Thankfully, the super strong duo were smashing upwards.

Robin hurled his explosive disks, embedding them in the ceiling. Superboy saw them and led the scientist under them, then the Boy Wonder detonated them, dropping 3 entire floors on the hairy monster, stopping it. One for the kids!

Sadly the fight had wrecked the entirety of the supports for the C.A.D.M.U.S building above ground and destroyed the whole thing. Thanks to Superboy, they made it out of the rubble. To meet the full contingent of the Justice League.

Robin noticed Batman glaring and looked appropriately subdued. Superman looked shocked by the symbol on Superboy's white solar suit.

"I'm your clone."

Superman gave a look of realisation and backed away, saying, "The league will sort something out for you."

Superboy looked let down so Robin went up to him and place his arm in the significantly taller boy's shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, you've got me Superboy."

He looked thankful.

"You will not be doing this again." Batman reprimanded them. "Now say your goodbyes, you're never going to be doing this ever again."

"Yes. We will." Aqualad calmly rebelled.

"Stand down Kaldur'ahm." Aquaman ordered. Kaldur shook his head.

"With respect, no King Orin. Tonight we proved ourselves worthy of a chance to fight together, as a team. We forged a bond here tonight, we 4."

Robin looked Batman in the eye. "And bonds cannot be so easily broken, you and I both know that Batman."

The not so subtle reference to how he sided with Barbara over her being Batgirl, against Bruce himself, caught Batman nearly off guard and his visible features hardened. His eyes narrowed beneath the cowl. Robin glared back. Suddenly, Superboy was stood behind him with a glare surpassing both of theirs.

"It's simple enough, get on board or get out of the way."

The League discussed among themselves then Batman, Flash and Aquaman took custody of their protégés.

"We will discuss this at length at the Hall of Justice tomorrow." Batman ordered, taking Robin firmly by the upper arm and pulling him away.

"Superboy, if you would follow me, I am willing to grant you refuge in the Batcave until this matter is resolved and arrangements are made."

Superboy followed as Batman led Robin by his grip on the boy's arm. He pressed a button on in of his gauntlets and a few moments later, the Batwing came into sight, landing before them. The Dark Knight made sure Robin was securely in his seat and waited for Superboy to figure out the seat belt. Once they were strapped in, the sleek black craft took off on the flight back to Gotham City.

The hour long flight was silent. Batman was not in one of his better moods as of the present moment and as such had opted to postpone the lecture he had for Robin.

The Batwing landed in the Batcave and Alfred, ready as always, had prepared an extra mug of chocolate after Batman had somehow told him about Superboy. Batgirl was in her full outfit, awaiting her reckless boyfriend's return.

When the hood of the Batwing opened, Barbara was surprised to see Batman leading Robin via a solid grip on his upper arm. He was clearly in some sort of trouble with the big man. She smiled at the tall boy in the white suit, having been informed about him by Alfred. As he stalked past her, Bruce released his grip on Dick's arm and left the boy with her.

The Grayson rubbed his arm and turned to get crushed in a hug by his girlfriend. The shock from losing so much blood to the cloning thing he destroyed was starting to wear off. It was one of the reasons why he had been led instead of Bruce letting him walk in his own. One.

"Don't do that to me Boy Wonder!" She scowled, smacking him around the head.

"Sorry."

Batgirl turned to Superboy and greeted him too, albeit more calmly.

"Hi, I'm Batgirl. Nice to meet you."

"Uh, likewise. I'm Superboy."

Alfred cleared his throat and got the attention of the three teens. "It is good to see you return in one piece Master Robin, though I suspect Master Batman does not share my joy as of this moment. Fortunately, you and Master Superboy have arrived in time for hot chocolate and Batcookies."

The butler transferred the mugs from the platter to the table nearby and placed the piled high plate of bat symbol shaped cookies. Superboy raised an eyebrow at the Batcookies but said nothing. Then the Englishman addressed him.

"Please, make yourself at home Master Superboy, I shall fetch some suitable clothing for your at the earliest opportunity."

The trio sat down at the table and, after taking a bite of a Batcookie, Barbara asked the question.

"So Robin, what did you do to tick him off this time?"


End file.
